ALEXANDRIA, Va. (4/6/15)--A review by the National Credit Union Administration's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the agency's purchase and travel card programs determined it poses a low risk of illegal or improper purchases.
 
Activity between Oct. 1, 2012, and Sept. 30, 2013 was covered in the review.
 
The NCUA uses three charge card programs for cards issued to most of the agency's approximately 1,260 employees. They are: purchase card through centrally billed accounts (CBAs); travel card through CBAs; and travel card through individually billed accounts (IBAs).
 
"Overall, we determined that NCUA's three charge card programs pose a low risk of illegal, improper, or erroneous purchases and payments," the report reads. "Based upon this assessment, we did not perform an audit of the purchase card or centrally billed travel card programs. However, we did perform an audit of the individually billed travel card program."
 
The IBA audit was conducted because the agency's total spending in the prior year exceeded the $10 million threshold of the Government Charge Card Abuse and Prevention Act of 2012.
 
The review concluded that for IBA travel cards, 1.65% of non-travelrelated merchant transaction codes were questionable. For CBA purchase cards, less than 1% of such transactions were questionable. No questionable transactions were found related to CBA travel cards.
 
The OIG recommended the NCUA:

• Annually provide cardholders with more robust and transaction specific training to ensure staff knows what charges are allowable. NCUA Executive Director Mark Treichel said staff will receive a refresher training course in 2015 to all cardholders and supervisors; and
   
• Review current travel card procedures and consider tasking direct supervisors, rather than regional and office directors, to conduct quarterly reviews of cardholder activity. Treichel said the agency will evaluate the feasibility of these reviews and have a determination by June 30.